Creative Food Storage Solutions

Trista - April 25, 2020
Share
It’s time to clean out your closet and reorganize. Shutterstock.

What About Your Closet Space?

This article talks a lot about what you can do with your kitchen and pantry space so you can store more dry foods in these areas. However, there are many closets around your home, and if you’re like most people, you could clean them out and make room for more dry goods.

All you need to do is add some shelving to your closet and then store your dry goods in there. Even if you have blankets or some clothing on one side, it’s a great way to make extra room, especially during the current crisis.

The trick to magnet boards is to make sure the magnets are strong enough to hold your jars of spices. Shutterstock.

Magnet Board Spices

I promise this is something that you can easily make at home. Look to see how much space you have between your pantry door and the shelving before you decide to do this, but you can make your spices magnet and attach them to the back of the pantry door.

All you need to do is find a magnet board that will fit on your door, buy some magnets, glass jars, and then put your spices into the glass jars. Put everything up, and your magnets will stick to the board just like magnets do on a fridge.

Okay, your crates might not look exactly like this, but you won’t be yelling, “why aren’t you on wheels!” when you can’t pull your bucket out from underneath your bed. Shutterstock.

Make Rolling Crates For Under Your Bed

We already talked about putting buckets and baskets under your bed for more storage (and to help the cluttering underneath the bed that magically happens). But, another task you can take on is to make rolling crates that fit right under your bed.

The best part is that you can push them under your bed, so people don’t see any buckets when they walk into your bedroom. Rolling crates are also helpful for those moments where you push the basket or bucket a little too far under the bed and struggle to get it out.

A large freezer is a great way to store extra frozen foods. Shutterstock.

What About Your Garage

Let’s face it; you can’t just worry about stocking up on dry goods. You also need to think a couple of weeks ahead when it comes to frozen foods. When it comes to this, getting an extra-large freezer or two is a great idea.

But where can you keep them? Well, a garage works well. Don’t worry about cold weather because freezers are pretty good when it comes to the cold. The only problem is needing to bundle up to get a loaf of bread.

Because of the design of the bed frame, you can easily lift your mattress to get what you need. Shutterstock. Because of the design of the bed frame, you can easily lift your mattress to get what you need. Shutterstock.

Bed Frame Storage

Yes, there is another way to store dry goods and other items underneath your bed and not have to worry about them getting lost because of the magical trolls that push other things under your bed.

One way to do this is to build or buy a bed frame that will easily lift your mattress so you can get under your bed without any trouble. Another benefit is that the frame has walls, so no one sees what or how you store your items underneath.

Some couches have more room underneath for storage than others. Shutterstock.

Under Your Couch

Just like you can store dry goods under your bed, you can also store them under your couch. You’ll want to look to see how much space you have and what type of storage container you need to make, but it’s a great way to store dry goods on a temporary (or permanent) basis.

You might also want to think of adding wheels to your storage crate, as this will make it easier when it comes to retrieving items.

Adding a top shelf to your pantry or closet might cause the people taller than you to tease you when you need their help reaching an item. Shutterstock.

Add Higher Shelves

You probably have a closet or pantry space that isn’t being used. Sure, you do – you just need to lookup. There is space at the top of your wardrobe, which is a bare wall. You can install shelving in this area to keep some of your non-perishable food items.

Of course, you’ll probably want a step stool as well, unless you have a taller person living with you that you can bother to help you reach items from the highest shelf.

Air-tight containers come in different sizes, but they’re easy to stack on top of each other, which can help save space. Shutterstock.

Get Some Air-Tight Containers

You can use glass jars for some items as it’s best, but for other dry goods, you can use any type of Tupperware that’s air-tight. This trick can help you store items easier because you don’t have to deal with different sizes of jars, bins, buckets, or bags.

You might want to get some labels so you can write what you have in the container on the side so you can easily search for the item later, grab it, and start cooking!

You’ll be amazed at what type of space you can find in an attic, once you stop imagining the rocking chair moving. Shutterstock.

Think About Your Attic Space

If you have an attic in your home, walk around to see what type of free space you have. You probably will find a lot as most people don’t organize their attics, they simply become a place where you can store things you don’t want to get rid of, not sure if you’ll use it again, or don’t have space for at this moment.

You might find space where the ceiling and floor meet where you can place a few totes filled with dry goods. You might also find a spot where you can build another pantry. Whatever you do, don’t forget where you store the food.

You never know what you can do with your basement space until you look. Shutterstock.

Don’t Forget About The Basement

From the attic to the basement, you can find room to store dry goods. If you don’t have an attic, the basement is a great place to look at because you probably have tons of room so you can build shelves, a pantry, or another space for your dry goods.

The trick is to know if your basement gets water in it and where this goes the most. You also don’t want to keep containers of food on your basement floor. It’s best to place them on some type of shelf.

Keep your cans and pantry organized, so you don’t fall victim to this. Shutterstock.

Can Wall Hanger

Another build your own storage container to hold your cans is to make a wall storage holder. You can use your creativity when it comes to this task, but all you need is a base, so your cans don’t fall out of the holders. It’s similar to how stores store cans.

You need wood and a curved base to hold the cans. You’ll also want a measuring tape, pencil, and a way to cut and hang the wood. Measure the wood to how long you want the columns and then measure each column to the length of cans. Of course, you might have one a little wider for the taller cans.

Steel shelving like this works great for your appliances and doesn’t take up much wall room. Shutterstock.

Store Your Appliances Elsewhere

Let’s face it; there are many appliances that you can buy (and probably have) such as slow cookers, George Foreman Grills, and Instant Pots. The trouble is that all of these appliances are rather large and take up a lot of space, which means you don’t like storing them on your counter.

Instead of storing them in your kitchen cabinets, get some metal shelving and store them in a particular location in the corner of your pantry or a closet. It will open up some of your kitchen space for your dry goods.

Plastic totes like this work great when hanging storage from the ceiling.

Hang Containers From The Ceiling

I’m not talking about stringing plastic totes to your ceiling by twine. I’m talking about purchasing wood and making flanges on each side of the board and then hanging it up. You’ll want a measuring tape so you can measure the size of the containers and space the wood out correctly, so the containers easily slide in and out.

Some plastic totes work perfectly for food storage because they have a hanging edge that allows you to hang them from the top. You’ll just want to make sure that they’re not packaged too heavy, and everything is secure.

No one would ever know that there are food and supplies underneath this table cloth. Shutterstock.

Make Furniture With Your Food Supplies

Don’t laugh at this idea yet. Even though it might look silly to you, storing your bins, buckets, and larger items on the floor and then placing a sheet of plywood or top of an old table on it and then covering everything with a tablecloth can make people think they’re looking at a table.

They will never know (unless they peak or you tell them) that you have food supplies underneath the tablecloth. You can even set decoration and pictures on top to give it a more table-like look. This is a resourceful and sneaky food storage option.

Make a little home improvement project by building shelves under your stairs instead of just a wall. Shutterstock.

Space Under The Stairs

If you’ve ever seen the movie “The People Under The Stairs,” I promise that this is entirely different. Many homes have a mysterious space under the stairs, and even though you might be reminded of a horror movie, it’s a great location to store bulky items, bins, or add shelving to create another pantry for food storage.

You could also store your household items, such as blankets, under the stairs, and use other space for your pantry items. It’s your space so you can get as creative as possible, especially when you have the time.

You can utilize even the smallest space; all you need to do is take a look around and get a little creative. Shutterstock.

Find A Way To Put Small Spaces To Use

Sometimes we look at a space and think, “This is too small for anything.” But have you ever thought of building a rack or anything that would fit into that space? You’ll be amazed at what you can find online merely by going to Google.

There are tons of DIY projects that give you clear and strong directions to help put every spot in your home to use, even the smaller ones that you feel your broom will barely fit in. Take advantage of these google food storage ideas! You never know until you try and see what you can do!

Using jars like these can help you make room for other dry goods in your pantry. Shutterstock.

Glass Jars

Sometimes it’s the packaging that the good comes in that takes up a lot of space. For example, if you buy bigger packages of flour, rice, sugar, and pasta, you can find these items taking up a whole shelf. That causes you to pile the boxes too high or put them on the floor, which isn’t the best place for them.

Just by taking the effort and a few minutes to pour your contents into glass jars and storing the dry goods this way can help increase food storage space. Don’t you believe me? Try it! You’ll be amazed at how much space there is when you’ve made the switch.

You can store items like this on your DIY cabinet. Shutterstock.

Make Your Own Food Storage Cabinet

If you feel creative, you can make your roller cabinet. All you need is a big piece of wood, similar to a door, add some thin shelves that can hold cans, jars, and seasonings, rods to keep the items securely on the shelves and wheels.

You can even purchase some type of wallpaper or decorate the door. Oh, you’ll want a handle as well so you can wheel it in and out of its location, such as between your fridge and wall. Food storage DIYs like this can provide a nice weekend activity!

Keep some non-perishable food items in a drawer instead of a cupboard. Shutterstock.

Keep Cans In A Drawer

People who travel a lot know this trick. They keep cans in their drawer as it helps them when it comes to food storage storage. We quickly run out of cupboard space, but we usually have a couple of draws that can open up for our cans.

Don’t worry about needing to pull the cans out to see what’s inside. You can write what they are on top of the can’s lid so you can quickly scan when looking for an item.

Rolling carts can also give your kitchen an aesthetic look and help with a bit of decoration when not in use with your dry goods. Shutterstock.

Rolling Cart Offers Effortless Food Storage

Sometimes there’s space in your kitchen or pantry, but not for building shelves or adding drawers. In this case, you can make or purchase a rolling cart. You can either keep dry goods that you regularly use on the cart or your more substantial items, so it’s easier to bring them into your kitchen when you need them.

Rolling carts are also handy food storage when you have many ingredients to carry from your pantry into your kitchen or when you need a little extra help walking around your kitchen because you’ve been a bit clumsy trying to keep your kids entertained during the current situation.

Even if you don’t have much space on the side of your fridge, building a thin bookcase can make room for a bit more food storage. Shutterstock.

What About That Space Next To Your Fridge?

It’s something that happens in most homes – you have adequate space between your fridge and the wall or counter. Usually, you’ll see space on both sides of your refrigerator. While it’s not anyone’s favorite thing to do, push your fridge to one side and then utilize the area on the other side.

You can purchase or make a thin bookcase to go there or add drawers. It might even help you to label the food storage drawers so you know where your flour, sugar, and onions are located.

Measuring before you make shelves will make sure that you have enough space so you can close the doors but still have plenty of food storage. Shutterstock.

Use The Back Of Your Doors

You’ve seen the shoe holders that you can put on the back of your closet door, but do you know they work great for canned goods on your pantry door? You can also build small shelves to hold your smaller items, such as cans and seasonings.

Open your pantry door and see how much space you have when you close it. You can even use these holders to store some of your kitchen utensils, which might open a drawer for larger dry items. A perfect solution for food storage!

Retractable shelving is a great way to make more room in your kitchen. Shutterstock.

Retractable Shelving

There are always bottom cupboards, such as next to your dishwasher, that is hard to get items out of, especially if they’re way in the back. It makes them more storage cupboards that you barely go into rather than food storage. (In fact, you might not even remember what you have in the back of your bottom cupboard).

It’s time to change that by building retractable shelving in these hard to get to cupboards. There are many instructions you can find online, and all you need are a few simple tools. Plus, you can store cans, spices, or whatever you wish and easily reach them later.

You can even make a couple of extra Lazy Susan shelves to use on your table or counter for food storage. Shutterstock.

Lazy Susans for Food Storage

Lazy Susans are a great way to create more space for food storage in a corner cupboard. Many people think that you need to buy and install one. While you can do this, they’re also pretty easy to make on your own. All you need to do is get round pieces of wood, drill holes, and place them in.

Of course, you need to make sure you attach some type of spinners to the bottom of the wood so they can spin. It’s best to buy timber and not focus on pieces of round plastic because those can break easily.

Sources:

“34 Insanely Smart DIY Kitchen Storage Ideas.” Architecture art designs.

“37 Creative Storage Solutions to Organize All Your Food & Supplies.” Jamie, Prepared Housewives.

“11 Creative Food Storage Ideas for Modern Homesteaders.” Anna Sakawsky, House Homestead.

Advertisement
Advertisement